Semyon Dezhnyov

Semyon Ivanovich Deschnjow (Russian Семён Иванович Дежнёв, scientific transliteration Semen Ivanovich Dežnëv; * 1605 in Veliky Ustjug, † 1673 in Moscow) was a Russian Cossack and explorer.

His first expedition to Siberia took Deschnjow 1645, but had to cancel due to inclement weather conditions. It was not until 1648 he sailed together with Fedot Alekseyevich Popov the Chukchi Peninsula and discovered which was later named after him Eastern Cape of Asia and the Bering Sea. With his journey through the Bering Strait, he refuted the view that there is a land connection between America and Asia; his report was, however, known until 1736: The German - Russian historian Gerhard Friedrich Müller discovered the travelogue written by Deschnjow in the archives of the city of Yakutsk. The former governor had not forwarded the report. Deschnjow had demonstrated the Strait between Alaska and Siberia or 80 years before Vitus Bering and 130 years before James Cook.